Max Mosley will face a vote of confidence as president of the International Automobile Federation (FIA) by a secret ballot, the FIA said on Wednesday. Mosley, the subject of lurid newspaper revelations about his private life, had asked the FIA last week to call an extraordinary general meeting in Paris on the matter.

Responding to that call, the FIA issued a statement saying “that the members of the Senate have unanimously approved the proposal of the president of the FIA, that further to the recent press coverage relating to his private life, an extraordinary general assembly should be convened.

“The meeting will be held on June 3, 2008, in Paris. The general assembly will include a vote of confidence by secret ballot,” the statement said.

Mosley is suing British newspaper The News of the World for unlimited damages for publishing revelations about his involvement in what was depicted as a Nazi-style sado-masochistic orgy with prostitutes.

The 67-year-old Briton has faced calls to resign from former drivers and the Automobile Association of America. Germany’s ADAC has advised Mosley to consider his position.

Mosley has refused to quit and justified his stance in a letter addressed to ADAC head Peter Meyer, in which he said his behaviour had been “harmless and completely legal”.

The letter was also circulated to all members of the world governing body as well as FIA’s World Motor Sport Council and Senate.